Para-causal Counterargument
by dragoonian
Summary: Aeria-3 is an Exo Warlock who spends less time fighting the Forces of Darkness, and more time meddling with their technology. However, when she tries to integrate a corrupted relic with her Light, she ends up with more than she could have ever imagined, and more than she can handle.


"Archimedes, turn on the camera we got from Spider. I want to test its integration." A Somewhat processed female voice calls out while turning on a light in the small room. There are pieces of old and new technology scattered throughout the cramped space, with an empty bed and workbench. Several books in all states of wear and tear can be seen dimly illuminated underneath the bed, which has a large red banner for a blanket with a black emblem marking it as the House of Devils banner. A small light sparkles into existence, forming into the shape of a sphere surrounded by eight small pyramids, each colored in a metallic green finish.

"I wish you would stop buying from that... overgrown Ether Breather. You know he uses the corpses of my cousins as playthings." Replies a mechanical and deep male voice, with a hint of disgust in its voice.

"I know Archi, but there is literally no better scrap dealer in the system. And he is the only reliable source of the cores I need to upgrade any of my gear."

The ghost grumbles, but materializes a small black cube, with a fisheye lens at one end, and a wire coming out of the other end, tipping off in exposed copper.

"Look, if this works, the amount of research and data we can collect will be so much more than we ever could." The Exo replies, the excitement practically overflowing from tone like water over a fall. "I could get hours of spy footage off my sniper's scope with this, action reports, up close detail on enemies like the taken and hive that disintegrate whenever we kill them. Another eye recording gives us twice the footage for other warlocks like me to use for research. We could interlink this with the hunter scouts to get even more visual data from far-reaching areas that we almost never get to go to. The theoretical benefits are limitless."

"Hmmph." The ghost replies before winking out of existence into the emerald Exo's "backpack."

"Now then, to attune this." The exo says to herself under her breath while, with a flourish of solar energy from her hand, pushes back a hidden panel in her room, which pulls a sphere covered in a black cloth into her hand. "The Symmetry had better not have sold me a faulty focus. The last one broke too early for me to verify my theory."

She pulls the cloth off of the sphere, revealing a sliver of pure white, surrounded in pure black amber. A minute shard of the traveler shining through pure darkness, the essence of Taken blight. "Light and Darkness in forced harmony. This Eye of Nox had better be pure." She grips the Eye in her offhand, funnels pure solar energy into it, to the point where the sliver of white is glowing a blinding orange, until, with a flash, followed by the abyss.

Now in an incredibly dark, open area. The emerald Exo, laying on a table with an obsidian surface, held up by white marble legs with veins of black, springs up. Out of instinct, she tries to reach for her ghost, yet Archimedes does not show. The light she had flowing through her circuits is also... altered, as she can feel something off about her solar light. Pulling up a solar grenade, tendrils of orange veined black fire claw themselves up her hand, forming into a glowing abyss of flame. A look of fear crossing her cybernetic visage. Snuffing the tainted flame, she tries to get a better look around the room she finds herself in. After a moment to gain her clarity, she notices something is off about her take of the room. She still has her visual H.U.D. Something her ghost is, was only able to provide. She tries again to find her ghost, but to no avail. No light answers her call. With no other options, she tries to call on what she can only imagine as the opposite of her light. She raises her offhand, focuses her negative emotions, and tries to call for something. Swirls of darkness flow up her forearm, taking the fluid shape of a single, reptilian eye. The pure black eye with a sliver of white for a pupil forms after a few moments in a solid form, exactly like the Eye of Nox.

"You called?" A malicious voice asks with a chuckle inside the Exo's mind.

"What's going on? Explain to me where we are, and what you've done to my Light." She asks, a tinge of nervousness on her voice.

"Oh Aeria-3, you simple little machine. You've been pulled into my domain. My Altar to the Darkness itself. I figured I would start the ritual for you, so your little Archimedes, your ghost, has been destroyed to give me form." The voice replies with a devious laugh. "Don't worry though. I won't let you perish permanently if you meet your end. You still need to find me more sacrifices. Before I send you back, I would recommend leaving your tower as soon as possible. Wouldn't want your mentor sensing your change of light. Huahahahahahahaha!" The Eye replies before winking out of existence, as the altar room and surrounding location melt away into the abyss.

* * *

With a gasp, Aeria rises from her bed, panting with panic at the nightmare she just experienced. Immediately she raises her hand and tries to call forth her solar light, only draw tendrils of orange veined darkness from her forearm. Snuffing it urgently, she looks around for her gear. Her Frostreach hood and robes, Reverie Dawn gloves and bond, and Lunafaction boots, all painted in the black and red of Midnight Smith. Her trusty Omolon weaponry leaning near the door. A hand cannon frame, sniper rifle frame, and a custom made sword with loose wires coming off of the grip, all painted in New Monarchy red and gold. She puts the hand cannon on her right hip, and then both the sword and sniper rifle on her back. Before heading out of her hidden room, she checks for the Eye of Nox. However, the relic is nowhere to be found, as is the familiar diction of her ghost. Not wanting the vanguard to find out about her dabbling in the literal dark arts, she heads out, trying to be as calm as possible while heading directly to the hangar. Unfortunately, she is not very good at faking, anything, and given the circumstances, she garners quite a few looks from fellow guardians she passes on the way. Although none of them actually do anything, mostly too busy with Engram decryption or seeing what new emotes Tess has in for the week.

After another minute of faking being OK, Aeria manages to get to the hanger bay, gets to the terminal in the back, and calls up her ship, an old Armor of Vows model she got from New Monarchy before the Tower was destroyed in the Red War. Painted black with pure white accent for the Monarchy icons, the ship looks sleek and has plenty of speed. Unable to transmatt in without her ghost proper, she jumps in the cockpit the old fashioned way, starting the manual controls and connecting her custom interface for the ship, which lets her control it directly with her Exo mind, and with a thought, she is flying away from the traveler. The beacon of hope, now a symbol for her to fear.


End file.
